Seeking advice for homemade banana plug test leads

So here's the deal. I love everything banana plug. I have so many leads and accessories already and I love being able to use them for everything. Whether it be my Verus or my multimeter. Plus, when I get around to it, I'm going to add a banana plug lead to my test light. I might even make my own test light that has banana plugs on both ends. The possibilities are endless!

There's lots of times I have to make my own extensions/adapters because I either couldn't find them or they were too expensive for what they were. I have many things I want to make. Of which I need both male and female connectors. So I ended up buying some bulk connectors off Amazon. I paid $7 for a pack of 20 male and female.




So my problem is these don't have the hard plastic encasings that take the strain of connecting/disconnecting them. Such as:




Some of my previous attempts didn't hold up well to the strain of disconnecting the leads. Some of these are pretty tight. I need something strong so I'm not pulling on the wire. Shrink tube alone is definitely not strong enough... I was thinking maybe just some epoxy..? I'll have to do this to the end of every lead I make so it'd have to be something quick and easy.

So ya, that's one of my current projects I'm mulling about. Wondering if anyone else has any previous experiences that worked well for them?

Hey ecwurban! Haven't seen you in awhile.

So I was thinking along the same lines, as far as adding banana jacks to everything. :lol: I ended up modifying an old test light of mine:

scannerdanner.com/forum/diagnostic-tools...ht-banana-jacks.html

It worked out well enough, just a bit ugly. I ordered the Pomona adapters from Digi-key. I can find the part numbers if you need.

Tyler wrote: Hey ecwurban! Haven't seen you in awhile.

So I was thinking along the same lines, as far as adding banana jacks to everything. :lol: I ended up modifying an old test light of mine:

scannerdanner.com/forum/diagnostic-tools...ht-banana-jacks.html

It worked out well enough, just a bit ugly. I ordered the Pomona adapters from Digi-key. I can find the part numbers if you need.

Haha ya, I got a bit carried away with some of the stuff going on and haven't been on my computer much lately.

My main thing is I need to prioritize what I spend money on. If I can save a lot of money making certain leads/accessories myself then I can use that money on some of the things on my wishlist Most accessories aren't terribly expensive by themselves but they add up quick when you start buying all the ones you want...

No worries! I just happened to be doing a bunch of transmission stuff recently, wanted to ask you a couple questions.

I hear ya about having the accessories add up I've been known to go overboard making my own stuff, and end up with a ton of half used supplies afterwards. :lol:

Haha ya, I've had a few things I made that ended up not working too well... Sucks when you spend a lot of time on them too! One of my current projects is a set of long test drive leads. My Snapon rep tried selling me a set. I think he wanted like $250 or something crazy like that. Sure they were nice but I have way too many other things higher on my list of priorities! The one thing that'll be interesting is after I'm done making them I'm going to grab some captures off something like a variable reluctor sensor or maybe some CAN lines and compare them to the regular Snapon insulated leads. I'm really curious to see how much of an effect it'll really have using non shielded extensions and jumpers on the signal...

Are you still dealing with any of that trans work? I'm more than happy to see if I can be of any help. Those things need to be put in their place!

ecwurban wrote: Haha ya, I've had a few things I made that ended up not working too well... Sucks when you spend a lot of time on them too! One of my current projects is a set of long test drive leads. My Snapon rep tried selling me a set. I think he wanted like $250 or something crazy like that. Sure they were nice but I have way too many other things higher on my list of priorities! The one thing that'll be interesting is after I'm done making them I'm going to grab some captures off something like a variable reluctor sensor or maybe some CAN lines and compare them to the regular Snapon insulated leads. I'm really curious to see how much of an effect it'll really have using non shielded extensions and jumpers on the signal...

Pretty sure I have the set your Snappy rep sells, they are indeed nice. BUT, I''ve only used them a handful of times, and almost never led to a repair. If you can make some homemade ones that can stand up to a road test, then I say go for it!

Are you still dealing with any of that trans work? I'm more than happy to see if I can be of any help. Those things need to be put in their place!

Thanks sir! Had some technical questions regarding GM TAP cells, and a shift solenoid waveform I got off an '06 Jeep. I'll post it in the Repair section? For all to see.

I made some test drive leads with a set of RCA's out of a junk car. They're already designed to go from one end of the car to the other, so why not?

They helped me keep an eye on a FPDM (fuel pump driver module) in the trunk of a Lincoln Continental that would stumble a bit on a good highway pull.

They're ugly ,and they ohm out with quite a bit more resistance than I had anticipated, but it saved me $200 on test leads...

Haha I'm so not worried about looks! My first major roadtest waveform was such a Frankenstein creation... I had the cam and crank leads going through the passenger window and I had voltage and current traces on the ignition coil/fuel injector power feed wire which came through the driver's window. To get it to reach I had to use so many different leads and attachments. I ran out of those and a couple I even had to use alligator jumper wires on. I just clamped them on real good then loaded them up with electrical tape to try and keep them tight. I tried taking a picture of the setup but it didn't do it justice. Was such a mess! I was particularly proud of that one.

I was actually thinking of RCAs. They're a great choice as they're nicely shielded and designed to carry signals. You can get decent ones super cheap. Just have to be careful with the adapters to banana plug. I'm hoping to use flat 4 trailer wiring. That way everything's kept together and you just have one bundle of wire to tie up. I just want it as an extension harness. The devices I'm capturing are going to be tee'd in with my regular leads. Then I'll just plug them into the female banana plugs on my made up trailer harness and use that to pull them into the vehicle. It's really not something you'll use very often so I don't want to spend lots of money. Plus it's a pain rigging up test leads to be safe for a road test. This should make that easier than just individual wires.

So I have been successful at making some of my own leads but usually find myself dealing with time. but I did want to share a go to as far has diag equipment for our scopes and for the prices they by far are better then snappy's. You guys may already know this one but just in case check out AESWAVE.COM. There equipment is by far more affordable to us tech then our Snappy's current prices. hope this helps.

Haven't lost a pressure gauge off the windshield or leads off the car on even the most enthusiastic of test drives yet!

Mike N wrote: So I have been successful at making some of my own leads but usually find myself dealing with time. but I did want to share a go to as far has diag equipment for our scopes and for the prices they by far are better then snappy's. You guys may already know this one but just in case check out AESWAVE.COM. There equipment is by far more affordable to us tech then our Snappy's current prices. hope this helps.

Ya, AESWAVE is good. I've bought a bunch of stuff off them. Unfortunately I'm in Canada so cost of shipping and time of delivery complicates them a bit. I usually just keep note of things I want and when I have enough of an order I'll put everything through at once. But I order through my Snapon rep. It's pretty much the same price if I order through him versus if I go directly through AESWAVE. My Snapon guy has done tons for me so I'd rather give him the extra couple dollars. Plus that way I don't have to deal with any of the ordering hassle

Noah wrote: Haven't lost a pressure gauge off the windshield or leads off the car on even the most enthusiastic of test drives yet!

Haha ya, I usually use zip ties from the shop. I'll just shove a screwdriver into the tang so I can reuse them. I want to find some that are more designed for reuse though. No matter what it's a pain rigging that crap up sometimes. Same thing with our ChassisEar kit for diagnosing driveline/suspension noises... Of course we have a wired one. You spend a whole bunch of time setting it up and taking it down just to go for a 2 minute road test!